Postman Pat - the dirty git!

LE

My 2 year old has become obsessed with Postman Pat. I have been a reluctant observer of the programme, but I have noticed something of great interest. I do not believe Postman Pat has been limiting his deliveries to mail sacks....

Pat is a ginger, or gwar to use the vernacular. The ginger hair colour is a recessive gene, and in genetics genes are described as two components denoted by letters. A capital letter denotes a dominant gene, and a lower case letter denotes a recessive gene. In any mix (ie dominant and recessive) the dominant gene is expressed.

Thus, the ginger gene would be GG, Gg, or gg. But the ginger gene would only be expressed in the "pure recessive" combination, ie gg.

As we all know, genes are passed on by mating (sh@gging for the unenlightened). One gene letters pair is combined with another gene letter pair (one from each) to give a new gene letter pair.

Thus GG plus gg could give only GG or Gg (both dominant); GG plus Gg could give GG or Gg (both dominant), Gg plus Gg could give GG, Gg (both dominant) or gg (recessive) and so on. In the case of gingers, only the gg result would be expressed as ginger hair because this is a recessive gene. This can only arise through the first generation mating of a mixed ginger (Gg) with another mixed ginger (Gg) or two gingers (gg plus gg) and can never arise through the first generation mating of a dominant ginger (GG) with either a mixed ginger (Gg) or a pure recessive ginger (gg).

As ginger is only expressed through the pure recessive gg, the only way of a guaranteed ginger child is through two gingers mating. If a ginger mates with a mixed non-ginger, then the chances are 50-50 that the child will be ginger (one will always be G, the other either G or g). If two non-gingers mate, then the chances are 1 in 4 of a ginger (GG, 2x Gg or gg).

Now, I have noticed a disturbing over-representation of ginger children in the programme, certainly when compared with parents. Pat is the only pure ginger. I believe that Postman Pat is the father of both Bill Thompson (parents Dorothy and Alf are both brunette) and of Sarah Gilbertson, daughter of the doctor (blonde and unmarried). Statistically, there is a 1 in 4 chance of a ginger resulting from the union of Dorothy and Alf, as opposed to a 50-50 chance of a ginger being sired out of wedlock by Pat "on his rounds"

LE

LE

Is it hell a recessive gene! Yep ...... in theory gwar is a recessive gene. But in practice it will always rear it's head. It's like having an erection in the public swimming pool at peak time. If you have one single ancestor who's ginger, your kids are doomed.

"Only after the last tree has been cut down, Only after the last river has been poisoned, Only after the last fish has been caught, Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten?"

LE

Is it hell a recessive gene! Yep ...... in theory gwar is a recessive gene. But in practice it will always rear it's head. It's like having an erection in the public swimming pool at peak time. If you have one single ancestor who's ginger, your kids are doomed.

LE

However the factor you're excluding is the likely prevalence of a particular recessive gene in a small rural village population due to Inbreeding!

Now, since the vast majority of Yorkshire folk that I've met over the years have shown significant signs of inbreeding - heavy brow, webbed feet, stumpy fingers and below average intelligence its fair to conclude that the statistical significance of the higher than average GG prevalence in Greendale is linked to a high level of people marrying their cousin/sister/mother at some point in the past!

A similar trend can also be seen in Pontypandy, with an unlikley prevalence of Aryan looking characters spread through the village, with some Ginners - although watered down by more recent immigration factors.

War Hero

I thought Postman Pat was a member of that Japanese mafia lot, the ones who chop fingers off. That would explain a lot!!

If a man knows not and knows not that he knows not, he is a fool, shun him
If a man knows not and knows that he knows not, he can be taught, teach him
If a man knows and knows not that he knows, he is aslep, wake him
But if a man knows and knows that he knows, he is a prophet, follow him

LE

I don't believe he's a proper ghingher at all. He keeps banging on that black and white pussy of his.

Hat, coat, mail bag. picket sign...

Once during a fever I remembered that when a European is dying, there is usually some sort of ceremony in which he asks the pardon of others and pardons them. I have a great many enemies, and I thought, what should my answer be if some modernized persons should ask me my views on this? After considering it, I decided: Let them go on hating me. I shall not forgive a single one of them.